Mil-Spec Coax Cable Assemblies: The Shift from Custom Proprietary to COTS

摘要

Historically, high-reliability (hi-rel) components involved custom and often proprietary processes and were used almost exclusively by the military and space industries. This trend of build-to-print interconnects has shifted in many ways, where it is now more feasible for military and aerospace systems to leverage high-rel commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components, simply because they often satisfy the electrical performance and physical durability requirements of these systems, frequently with the added benefit of interoperability. This article provides an overview of the trends in high-rel COTS coaxial assemblies, as well as covering the general construction of high-rel cables.